News & Columns > Michael P. Neufeld > Recall Failure Blamed on Invalid Signatures (Update)

Recall Failure Blamed on Invalid Signatures (Update)

San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Explains Random Sample

By Michael P. Neufeld
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: Organizers of the recall effort are slated to meet with San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Keri Verjil to review the verification process. No date for the meeting has been announced.

Update - Tuesday 3:45 a.m.

San Bernardino, CA - San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Keri Verjil has explained reasons the recall of Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia) failed to gather enough valid signatures.

State Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia) (Photo by State of California.)

"The majority of the invalid signatures," Verjil explained in a media advisory, "were determined to be from individuals who are not registered to vote."

San Bernardino County randomly sampled 1,339 signatures of the 44,590 submitted signatures and found only 661 valid signatures in the sample submitted to the Secretary of State last Friday.

"Other reasons that signatures were deemed invalid," Verjil's press release noted, "included signers not registered to vote within the Assembly district in question, signers registered in another county or state, signers who signed more than once, no address provided, and signatures that did not match registration records."

A similar random sample of 500 signatures in Los Angeles County where 13,794 signatures were submitted showed 327 valid signers on the petitions.

Based on total numbers for both counties the projected number of valid signatures would be 24,579. A total of 35,825 valid signatures were required to qualify the recall for a special election.

Original Story

Sacramento, CA - California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has announced the recall of Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia) failed to gather enough valid signatures to go to the ballot.

Bowen reported that election officials in both San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties had notified her office in Sacramento that projections showed only 24,579 valid signatures were submitted. A total of 35,825 registered voters needed to sign the petitions to order an election.

"I'm pleased that the two counties I represent," Adams emphasized in a prepared statement, "won't be forced to hold an expensive election at a time when they simply can't afford it. I'm grateful to all those who voiced their support of me throughout this process."

The recall attempt was launched after Adams pledged not to raise taxes and then voted to pass a new state budget with $12.5 billion in tax increases.

Organizers of the recall have made public comments that they will challenge the signature-verification results showing just over 40 percent of the sampled signatures were valid.

This article was first published on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 5:25 am. This article has been viewed 1065 times.

Michael P. Neufeld, Senior News Editor, is a graduate of the Dwight Bentel School of Journalism at San Jose State University. His first job out of San Jose State was with the Associated Press in Los Angeles as overnight Radio Editor. Prior to joining RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, Neufeld was editor of two weekly newspapers—THE MOUNTAIN NEWS and CRESTLINE COURIER-NEWS. He also has experience as editor of an employee newspaper for a major utility company and during his tenure as executive director of the San Jose State University Alumni Association served as faculty advisor to the association's monthly newsletter. He also spent eight years in commercial radio doing everything from news to advertising sales and writing commercials to being an announcer and on-air personality. Neufeld is actively involved the mountain communities including serving as master of ceremonies for the Arrowhead Arts Music Festival held each summer.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Michael P. Neufeld.